[This
article was first published on the Middle Kingdom Guild of Withie and
Woolmongers website, http://mktag.org/ ]

Annotated Bibliography about Medieval Textiles

By
THL Cassandra of Glastonbury

This is
a partial list of books I have found helpful in my research of weaving,
spinning and dyeing. This list is not comprehensive and reflects my focus weaving,
spinning, and natural dyeing. The opinions expressed are my own, as the cat
could not bother to comment.

Barber,
Elizabeth Wayland (1991) Prehistoric Textiles. WW Norton & Company, New York, NY. ISBN: 0-691-00224-x. Takes
spinning, weaving, and dyeing from the beginning of time. This is the book that
started my addiction to medieval weaving.

Barber,
Elizabeth Wayland (1995) Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years. WW Norton & Company, New York, NY. ISBN:
0-393-31348-4. Very good read, more like a novel than non-fiction. Focus is on
prehistoric more than Middle Ages.

Bennett, J,
et al, editor (1989) Sisters and Workers in the Middle Ages. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. ISBN:
0-226-04248-0. Discusses occupations pursued by women. Wills and court records
back up citings, making this an excellent source for documenting.

Baizerman,
Suzanne and Searle, Karen (1978) Finishes in the Ethnic Tradition. Dos Tejedoras, St. Paul, MN. ISBN: 0-932394-01-9. An
easy-to-follow book about how to perform finishing techniques in clear language
and drawings.

Bress, Helene
(1980) Inkle Weaving. Flower Valley
Press, Rockville, MD. ISBN: 0-9620543-1-3 Best inkle weaving book I have found
to date. Shows how to build a loom, warp, weave, finish, and design inkle
bands. Color schemes are a bit (understatement) dated. Do not believe the
bookstores when they tell you the book is out of print; the publisher is the
author’s husband.

Broudy, Eric
(1979) The Book of Looms. University
Press of New England, Hanover, NH. ISBN: 0-87451-649-8 Overview about looms
used from prehistoric to modern times. Excellent pictures and sketches.

Bruce-Mitford,
Rupert (1983) The Sutton Hoo Ship-burial.
Vol. 3, Chapter IV: The Textiles
by Elisabeth Crowfoot, University Press, Cambridge, England. ISBN:
0-7141-1331-x. Archaeological text detailing the textiles found on the Sutton
Hoo. The multi-volume series is the most comprehensive book written about the
Sutton Hoo.

Chandler,
Deborah (1995) Learning to Weave.
Interweave Press, Loveland, CO. ISBN: 1-883010-03-9. Best how-to weave book I
have found to date. It is comprehensive guide to weaving cloth in a variety of
techniques. Has a good troubleshooting guide. There is even plenty of room to
write in the margins. The only downside to this book is the author has no
interest in medieval history.

CIBA Reviews. Excellent source of information on a wide variety of historical
textiles, clothing, guilds, dyes, and looms. This is a series of publications
sent out to their customers.

Davison,
Marguerite (1994) A Handweaver’s Pattern Book. Margurite Porter Davison, Swarthmore, PA. ISBN: 0-9603172-0-1. A
comprehensive book of patterns ranging from tabby and twills to out of period
overshot. Caution: double check the patterns and notations for accuracy.

Hoffmann,
Marta (1974) The Warp-Weighted Loom.
Hestholms Boktrykkeri A.s, Oslo, Norway. ISBN: 82-00-08094-3. A comprehensive
book concerning warp-weighted looms, their weavers, and weavings. Some of this
work has been supplanted by later finds.

Rogers,
Penelope Walton (1997) Textile Production at 16-22 Coppergate. Council for British Archaeology, York, UK. ISBN:
9-906780-97-9. Raw materials for weaving, spinners, looms and other topics of
archaeological interest.

Rogers,
Penelope Walton, and John Wild (1990) Textiles in Northern Archaeology:
NESAT III: Textile Symposium in York 6–9 May 1987. Archetype Publications, London. ISBN: 1-873132-05-0.
Like any of the six NESAT books, many useful articles written by the best in
textile archaeology. Difficult to find.

If
this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the
publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also
appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being
reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.